Chapter 43

Chapter 43: Jiang Tea Tea’s Demon Power Is Detected—Initiate Her Capture

The cold gleam of the scissors made Jiang Tea Tea’s mind go blank.

Seriously?

She’d already “died” this thoroughly and they still wanted to dissect her?

Shouldn’t a normal person toss the bucket off the ship and be done with it?

Minister Lu hesitated because Chong Ming hadn’t spoken. “Commander-in-Chief…”

Chong Ming stared at the sapling, unsettled. “Do you really need to cut that much just to see if there’s green inside?”

“Oh.” Minister Lu relaxed at once, misunderstanding. “If you only want to cut a little, that’s easy.”

He slid the scissors upward—unluckily to a position that, if Jiang Tea Tea transformed into human form, would be right at her throat.

Jiang Tea Tea wanted to vomit blood.

These scissors were obsessed with either her waist or her neck. If she’d known, she would’ve transformed into a giant tree—one nobody could dig out.

Minister Lu said calmly, “A small cut is enough. We just need to see whether the interior has dried out.”

“If the inside isn’t dried and decayed, it might simply be struggling with the new soil and climate. Some plants shed leaves to absorb nutrients better and adapt.”

Chong Ming considered it, then reached out and shifted the scissors away from the “neck” and down slightly. “It’s already a tiny sapling. It doesn’t have many branches. Cut a little and check.”

Minister Lu smiled. “Commander-in-Chief, if a horticulturist were shaping this sapling, they’d prune all four side branches and leave only the main trunk.”

“Especially for indoor ornamentals—continuous pruning from small to large is how you shape a pleasing form. A little cut won’t affect much.”

Jiang Tea Tea seethed.

Ornamental my ass.

Plants felt pain. They just couldn’t scream, and they couldn’t run.

Chong Ming’s voice lowered. “Don’t cut too much. It had nice green leaves before.”

Those leaves reminded him of the ones on a branch he’d picked up at the First Hotel.

“All right.”

Minister Lu opened the scissors and moved to snip—

The Medical Department lights crackled, then went dead.

Total darkness. No backup lights.

Jiang Tea Tea seized the opening. Magic power surged as she prepared to abandon the bucket and vanish—

A bright flare lit the room.

Chong Ming condensed a ball of fire in his palm, lighting the Medical Department like a torch.

“Power Maintenance Department,” he demanded, “what’s going on? Why did the Medical Department lose power?”

Jiang Tea Tea wanted to laugh.

Fire ability. This loach had fire ability too—dual lightning-and-fire.

If his fire was this controlled and solidified, then his lightning had to be terrifying.

The Power Maintenance Department answered quickly. “Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief—our system shows the ship’s power grid is intact. There is no power outage in the Medical Department.”

Chong Ming’s gaze went glacial. “Check again. I’m in the Medical Department. The lights went out, and backup didn’t engage.”

“Yes, Commander-in-Chief. We’ll check immediately!”

Minister Lu set the scissors down. “Commander-in-Chief, I’ll go take a look as well.”

Chong Ming flicked the fireball upward. It hovered overhead, casting steady light.

Jiang Tea Tea sat in the bucket, furious and trapped. She couldn’t run.

A moment later, the Power Maintenance Department reported again. “Commander-in-Chief, inspection complete. Two cables burned out—one in the main system and one in the backup.”

“Repairs are underway. Backup will be restored within three minutes at the latest. Main power within ten minutes.”

Chong Ming said evenly, “After power is restored, perform a full inspection of the ship’s system. This cannot happen again.”

“Yes, Commander-in-Chief!”

Chong Ming cut the channel, lifted the bucket, and left the Medical Department.

Jiang Tea Tea’s heart lifted. Good. Now he’d finally throw her and the bucket off the ship, right?

Wrong.

Chong Ming carried her right back to the command room and set her on the table again.

He glanced at the projection screens, then tapped open his lightbrain and typed a search:

“Plant transplant care.”

Jiang Tea Tea’s rage spiked.

She was starving. A bucket of dirt and one disgusting worm were nowhere near enough to feed her. If she stayed here, she’d be forced to starve.

If blackouts were her only escape route, then she’d make another one.

She gathered magic power and swept it through the command room’s power system.

Crack—lights flickered.

Then everything went dark.

Backup power failed again.

Jiang Tea Tea didn’t hesitate. Under invisibility, she slipped out and, for good measure, transformed the worm into a seedling copy of herself, leaving it standing stiffly in the bucket.

Across the command room, Cai Xi Chao gasped. “Commander-in-Chief! I detected that unknown energy fluctuation again—stronger than before!”

Chong Ming frowned, condensed multiple fireballs, and tossed them into the air. One became two, two became four, and soon ten glowing spheres lit the command room.

He snapped, “Power Maintenance Department, restore the command room’s power system now.”

The Power Maintenance Department sounded stunned and panicked. “What? The command room power system collapsed too? Commander-in-Chief, please wait—restoring immediately!”

Cai Xi Chao’s light screen stayed lit; she was operating through her personal lightbrain.

“It’s here,” she said, voice tight. “Commander-in-Chief… the same unknown energy that appeared around Jiang Tea Tea when she killed the three-headed giant pythons—it’s in the command room!”